Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow missed the final seven games of the 2023 regular season after sustaining torn wrist ligaments in his right hand.
The 27-year-old underwent season-ending surgery and was replaced by Jake Browning, who guided the Bengals to a 9-8 record, falling shy of a playoff berth.
On Sunday, Burrow spoke with ESPN’s Ben Baby and offered a timeline as to when he would be fully cleared to return to action, indicating that he’s targeting mid-May in order to be back with the team for OTAs.
“I think middle of May is when I am expecting to kind of be cleared for full contact and everything," Burrow told ESPN. "Over the next month [to] month and a half, we'll kind of decide all those things."
In four NFL seasons, Burrow has seen two campaigns end prematurely due to injury, but he’s confident he’s on track to be cleared well before training camp starts.
He’ll hope for a fully healthy campaign in 2024 after last season both started and ended with injuries. Before the season, Burrow suffered a calf injury during training camp, which impacted him throughout the start of the year, though he didn’t miss any games due to that ailment. He sustained the ligament tear in Week 11 against the Baltimore Ravens.
In 10 games last season, Burrow threw 15 touchdowns and six interceptions while leading the team to a 5-5 record before sustaining the season-ending ligament tear.
“I can lift basically normally now, which I'm excited about,” said Burrow. “So the next two months, I'll basically be just doing what I've done for the last couple of years Just the 12 weeks of extra work in the rearview.
